The Olympic gold solidifies Lydia Ko into the LPGA Hall of Fame
By Addie Parker
The IX: Golf Thursday with Addie Parker, Aug. 15, 2024
Happy Golf Thursday! As much as I want to be disappointed that Olympic golf is behind us, this time next week we’ll be tuning in to watch the stars of the LPGA Tour play the famed Old Course at St. Andrews—the home of golf—so, who can truly be upset?
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And as exciting as the looming AIG Women’s Open is, we need to address the ginormous elephant in the room. Lydia Ko completed the Olympic medal trifecta and finally snagged that illustrious last point she needed for her spot in the LPGA’s Hall of Fame.
Since the beginning of the season, after Ko won the first event of the year and she was just one point away from qualifying for the HOF, it became a headline every time she was in contention.
Unlike other organizations where committees and boards decide who belongs in their HOFs and when, the LPGA’s Hall of Fame is completely based on player ability. They quite literally play their way in through a set of criteria based on a points system.
Players must meet a minimum point threshold of 27 points. One point is awarded for every LPGA official tournament win, each Vare Trophy (lowest scoring average for a season) win, Rolex Player of the Year honor earned, or for an Olympic gold medal. Two points are awarded for each LPGA major tournament win.
In addition to the mandatory points, players must have won or have been awarded at least one of the following: an LPGA major championship, the Vare Trophy, or Rolex Player of the Year honors.
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If the criteria seem complicated, that’s because it is. And to further emphasize just how remarkable Ko has been throughout her entire career, she has met every piece of criteria listed.
Ko has won 18 titles on tour, including two majors, the 2015 Evian Championship and 2016 ANA Inspiration, which earned her four more points to her overall total. Throw in that extra point with the gold medal and her 2015 Rolex Player of the Year, 2021 Vare Trophy, 2022 Rolex Player of the Year, and 2022 Vare Trophy awards and you’ll see that Ko’s roadmap to the HOF has spanned over a decade.
Beth Ann Nicol’s of Golfweek chronicles Ko’s career rather well in this piece.
She’s one of golf’s greatest ambassadors, and not just because she’s a winner in every sense of the word. Also, because she’s kind, thoughtful, plays with integrity, and is always there to root for other players.
And even if the inductees were decided based on a committee, we can all agree Lydia Ko would be a shoe-in.
See the full list of LPGA Hall of Famers here.
This week in women’s golf
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Five at The IX: Lydia Ko pulled an all-nighter after winning gold
THE MODERATOR: Pleased to be welcomed by Gold Medallist and newest member of the LPGA Hall of Fame, Lydia Ko. Lydia, congratulations again. Just has it all kind of sunk in, everything from last week?
LYDIA KO: I actually don’t know if it has sunk in yet. I didn’t sleep Saturday night just because of travel logistics and all that. So I went to sleep for the first time on Sunday night. It was pretty surreal. I woke up, like, was that a dream? Did that just really happen?
Super exciting. I’ve gotten an overwhelming amount of support from the players and the people that I know, and just very grateful for literally this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Q. Can you tell us where the Gold Medal has been most of the time the last couple of days?
LYDIA KO: It’s been in my backpack. I haven’t gone in the case yet. So I haven’t been able to fully treasure it very well. But it’s right there now.
Q. It’s nice to be able to look at that, and then it’s real will, isn’t it, when you look at that?
LYDIA KO: I haven’t actually looked at it in a couple of days. When I was flying with it, it was weird to kind of take it out because not everybody knows that I’m an athlete nor an Olympian or that I had won a medal. So it’s kind of awkward at times. I like don’t really want to — like I don’t feel like it’s bragging but I have to.
It’s just, yeah, I haven’t seen it. Like we took it out this morning to bring it out here. But yeah, I haven’t seen my Rio or Tokyo Olympic Medals since the day I got it, either. Now that I have three, I think I need to find a good place to putt them all together.
Q. On the back of last week, might have been tempting to give this week a miss. How important is this week going into next week for you? You’ve always enjoyed playing in Scotland.
LYDIA KO: I think it just kind of made sense that having the British Open in Scotland, to play the week again prior in Scotland. I think before the Olympics, I had joked, Oh, if I had won the Gold Medal, I’ll probably not play the week after.
But I was talking to my team and I just wanted to kind of stick to my schedule, and I think it’s a good thing, especially kind of playing into something as big as The Open. We don’t have the most beautiful day today but I feel like it’s like a welcome to Scotland kind of a thing.
But I always enjoy playing links, and we don’t really get to play these type of golf courses very much in the year. It’s a really good preparation for next week. Yeah, I think I’d rather play and kind of — whether it’s good or bad this week, to just be on that momentum of competitively playing, and I know I get a good three weeks off after The Open. So I’m excited to have another fun couple weeks here.
Q. You’ve achieved so much in your career. You’ve not won in Scotland. How big a goal is that for you going forward to tick that one off?
LYDIA KO: I haven’t personally played that well at an Open Championship very much. Only like two, three times around the 10th-ish I’m I played the British Open.
Yeah, I would love to like be in contention, and I think playing this week will get me more accustomed to this style of golf. You know, I think people — one of my coaches were asking me, oh, then what’s your goal now, even if it’s a small goal?
I said it would be really, really cool to win a major championship before I’m done competitively playing. And I don’t exactly know when that time is but I think it’s good to have another goal, and that’s definitely a goal of mine. I mean if it happens next week, I mean, I’d be pretty shocked to say, especially because it’s like two of the biggest events in my season.
So yeah, I don’t know like if or when the opportunity is going to come but I would love to be more in contention and kind of enjoy being in that kind of a situation.
Q. You touched on next week there, as well, for the AIG. How special is that going to be playing at the Old Course? Not somewhere that we see women’s majors going to a lot. How special is that going to be?
LYDIA KO: Last time I was there was in 2013 or something. I played it as an amateur when Stacy won. It’s the first time the women are returning since then.
I’m excited to go back to a golf course that I played at. I said it’s also weird because all of the majors this year, even the ones that rotate, they are all courses I’ve been to over these past 12, 13 years. I feel like it’s showing my age a little bit returning to these golf courses in over like ten years.
But I’m excited to go there. Obviously there’s a lot of history there. The men have played there a couple times since we’ve last gone. So yeah, it’s exciting and I’m going to have my husband and my sister and my mom and my sister’s husband there. It’s great because it will probably be my last time playing the British Open at St. Andrews. I’m excited that we can all enjoy it together.
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